JUNE 2016

VISITING ABROAD, BUT NOT LIKE A TOURIST

Vacationing abroad provides an opportunity to experience other cultures by visiting foreign countries, seeing main attractions and sampling their food.  If you don’t speak the language, you will quickly learn that the tourist industry is very accommodating to English-speaking travelers, and every country/town has guides that can provide an enormous amount of information.  We have done a lot of that.  This time, we wanted to do something different.

We are spending 29 days in the lake region of Italy.  We have rented a condo at Lake Garda, the largest of the lakes and are living like locals.  Our “guide” is Gianfranco, a retired lawyer who lives upstairs and is only too happy to show us around.  He is full of useful information that is necessary if you are not on a tour.  Our landlord’s father-in-law, Alberto, knows the best restaurants, the best shops and the best everything else.   He showed us a tiny place owned by a Sicilian family where they make delicacies my mother-in-law used to cook.

We would never think of eating in restaurants every night at home.  It gets tedious and expensive.  We have found the right combination of cooking for ourselves and eating out.  In Italy there are no bad restaurants.  Shopping for food has been fun.  The fruits and vegetables we purchase from the local greengrocer are fresh, perfect and delicious - - and reasonably priced.  Shopping at the supermarket gives us an insight into the food and culture of the region.  We have found things whose existence we never imagined and have learned that cooking simple, with fewer utensils and gadgets works.  We have quickly and easily adapted to the difference in selections.

They are very ecologically savvy here.  Everything is clean.  There are strict rules about recycling - - and big fines for non-compliance.  All packages and jars have expiration dates and lots of information about the product.  The supermarket we go to has a HUGE ring binder chained to a stand with information about almost every product in the store - - ingredients, origin, potential allergenics and intolerances, and almost anything else you would want to know, plus things you would never think to ask.

We have learned much about the region from speaking with shopkeepers.  Guides tell you about history; locals tell you about now. 

There are, of course, differences, some good, others not so much.  There are only two driving rules here.  If you are on a highway, you must keep to the right so that overtaking vehicles can pass.  Disregarding that rule will get you horn blasts and menacing fists.  The other rule involves round-abouts.  These occur at short intervals and eliminate left-hand turns.  A car already in the round-about has the right of way.  Period!  It is amazing how courteous drivers are in respecting others.  Smoking is annoying because it is not prohibited in restaurants, at least not outside, where we prefer to sit and people watch.  Pets are permitted in restaurants. Surprisingly, they are much better behaved than children. 

I thought the most difficult adjustment would be to the heat and lack of air conditioning.  It has been really hot since our arrival.  We have learned that you have to do your sightseeing early, get out of the sun after mid-day (shops close anyway from 1-4), drink lots of water, and stay in the air-conditioned car. Of go to a mall.  An afternoon nap is great for recharging batteries.  Our condo is not air conditioned, but it is well-constructed.  There are no battles for control of the thermostat.
After almost 2 weeks, the best part of this vacation is knowing that there is much to see, and we can take everything in at our own pace.  If we don’t get somewhere today, we can go there tomorrow, or next week. 

What a difference!

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THIS ISSUE BEGING MY SEVENTH YEAR OF ELDER LAW NEWS. 

IT HAS BEEN FUN.  AS ALWAYS, I ENCOURAGE COMMENTS.